Saudi Arabia-based crowdfunding platform Funding Souq has closed a $2.5m seed round with contributions from an arsenal of angel investors including Amal Dokhan (Partner at 500 Global), Omar Aljeraisi, Christian Kunz (Head of Strategy at a leading Global Financial Centre). Existing investors include Mazin Alzaidi (Partner at STV ), Musaab Hakami and IslamicFinanceGuru.

Founded in 2020, Funding Souq is a platform that connects investors with established SMEs who are looking to borrow between $20k-150k. Investors get exposure to SME lending and realize an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of c.20% whilst supporting their local businesses and making an impact.

Funding Souq uses a robust credit scoring process that analyzes tens of variables before shortlisting a business for an enhanced due diligence.Less than 9% of the businesses that apply get approved on Funding Souq.

This disciplined approach to credit risk has helped us maintain defaults impressively at less than 1%. With this round of investment, Funding Souq will scale its operations and aim to grow its debt investor partnerships with family offices and banks to focus on Sharia-compliant financing. The company is also exploring entering new markets and developing new products that will further serve its mission to empower SMEs in the Middle East and beyond.